Kanashimi wo Yasashisa Ni
by Kyoshu Koi
Summary: A perfect childhood was something they'd dreamed of. But it was out of reach for them. It was just the best they'd get. They could fix it, though. They just had to somehow, by some method, find a way to turn this sadness into kindness. Drabble-Fic with random updates
1. Yamanaka Ino

**Just a little drable fic I though up in my spare time. ~Koi**

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Yamanaka Ino was woken up to the sound of screaming and slamming doors.

She didn't show any signs of being scared, though. The blue-eyed child wasn't crying, and she wasn't yelling for them to stop. IN fact, she smiled just a little bit.

All of this was normal in her house, something that she'd gotten used to it. Her parents yelled – well, it was mainly Kaa-san, though Tou-san snapped at her every once in a while, too– but every family did that, right.

If her parents did it, then everyone else's must do it as well.

Because, after all, her Tou-san and Kaa-san held hands and smiled at each other outside of the house, just like everyone's mother and father, so it had to be an average thing in households.

The blonde sat up in her and rubbed at her bleary eyes.

She stretched out her mouth in a big yawn and slung the oversized covers off her. She jumped down off the bed and padded over towards the door, stretching to reach the handle.

She'd pop in and ask her parents what was going on. That always stopped the arguing. Kaa-san would look at Tou-san before walking over and pulling Ino into a hug. Then Tou-san would wait a few seconds before joining.

Kaa-san would gate up right after and head out to meet with her friends, and Tou-san would take her out to the backyard and explain to her what Hana-san's different names were, what they meant, and what they'd do (Like how Bara-san helped people show love).

But, this time, when Ino got downstairs, that wouldn't happen.

The five-year old checked the kitchen and the living room, but no one was there.

Kaa-san and Tou-san normally yelled there at night, since it was supposed to be the farther from her room. Kaa-san would throw things as Tou-san. But he was a shinobi, so he caught them or dodged them.

Most of the time, this just made Kaa-san angry.

Ino popped over to the living room, where the fighting took place during the day. But it was empty. She looked out back, but there wasn't anything except Tsuki-san and Sayuri-san. The Yamanaka quickly waved to them.

"I have to find Tou-san and Kaa-san," she whispered, "So I can't stay. I'll water you in the morning, okay?" Tsuki-san swayed in response. Sayuri-san just unfurled her petals, basking in the sun.

Ino scuttled away. Finally, she peaked her head around the corner… only to find her Kaa-san walking out the door, bag in hand.

"Maketa!" Tou-san shouted. His voice cracked hallway through her name and Kaa-san whirled around, her entire face red in anger.

"I've put up with you long enough," she screamed, "I don't care how much you _love_ me, or how much you _adore_ me; this was an _arranged_ marriage! I've bore you a child, now leave me be!"

"What about Ino?" Tou-san demanded, "You're just going to leave her?"

"You know I never cared for that child!" Kaa-san screeched. She whirled around and stormed away, stopping only to stomp on the roses out front.

Minutes passed before Ino found the courage to walk forward, "Tou-san," she asked, "Is Kaa-san coming back?"

Yamanaka Inoichi turned around and forced a smile, "Come here," he said, holding open his arms. Ino threw herself into them and wrapped her own around his chest. "She will, honey," he whispered through his tears, "She'll come home for dinner tomorrow, okay?"

Ino nodded, "Okay."

But Ino knew. She knew Kaa-san wouldn't be back. Not for the next day's dinner, not ever.

And she hated her for it. She despised her for everything she'd done for her family. She thought of her when she threw her kunai, and when she fought in her matches.

Of all the people Ino aspired to be, Yamanaka Maketa wasn't one of them. To Ino, her mother was a fake and a fraud.

Yet, somehow, along the way, she became exactly like her.


	2. Nara Shikamaru

Nara Shikamaru didn't have it as bad as the others. At least, that's what he'd assumed. But, something about his childhood started to seem… wrong as he started to grow up.

Looking back, it was a surprise he didn't turn out like Sasuke.

Maybe it was because his father was lazy, so, by the laws of personality development and all that jazz, he'd become lazy as well.

It could have been the deer, too. He'd had to feed them every morning, after all, and the way he'd have to run after the fawns had left him exhausted (Now that he thought about it, it could've been his mother's way of getting him exercise).

Nara Shikamaru was a genius, even more so than Hyuga Neji and Hatake Kakashi were called.

At one he'd said his first words -'troublesome' (Story goes his mom had chased his dad all the way around Konoha while threatening him with her slipper).

At age two he'd started to walk and at age three he'd learned to read and write hiragana. By the time he turned four, he'd grasped the concept of kanji and even learned the how to use katakana.

Even though the spiky haired boy had been on the earth for five years at one point, he'd been speaking in full sentences.

Shikamaru had even taught himself to play shoji by watching his father, though this only seemed to enrage his mother even more, seeing as instead of wanting to spend time with her he'd sneak into the shoji room and pull it out, setting up random situations on the board and finding a way to solve them.

He'd gone into the Academy with everyone else in his grade, too, since it'd be troublesome if he applied early. Besides, he needed to graduate with Ino and Choji, clan rules.

Anyways, it'd all been pretty fun, that was, until Danzo showed up at his door.

Shikamaru had watched from outside in the yard, where he'd been poking at a caterpillar in his spot.

Any other place just wasn't as comfortable and he really didn't want to kill it. The green blob wasn't moving, though, and he didn't want to squish it.

That'd just be too troublesome.

He'd have to move the guts and slime and Choji would see – since the Akimichi compound was close by and the said boy was outside – then they're have to talk about why he'd killed it and…

Shikamaru scrunched up his nose.

That was all just too much work. The only thing he really wanted to concentrate on was shoji, but the room was off limits since he'd needed to get some vitamin D or whatever.

His mother had put her hand on his hip the way she did when she was annoyed – or scared, as Shikamaru soon found out – and let out a huff of air.

"We all know what you did to the poor boy," she hissed, "Just because you wiped those kids minds doesn't mean us adults don't know what you've done, or what you're doing."

"The roots strengthen the tree," Danzo grumbled.

"Not if they're ripping all the buds off to make the darn fertilizer," Yoshino snapped, "No means no, and if you so happen to lay a hand on his head, not only with this clan be after you, but all of its alliances as well."

Even Shikamaru knew what that meant.

The Yamanaka's and Akimichi's might've been the most known ally's to the Nara clan, but there were so many others.

The Sarutobi clan would risk their life for the shadows users – Hokage-sama included, and since the Inuzuka's were fiercely loyal to the man they followed, they'd be the man's enemy as well.

The Aburame's would then come into play if the Inuzuka's attacked, as they had a big alliance with them. If that many people stood against one man, then Hyuga's would participate as well.

It'd be a once sided battle: every clan against a single organization.

Danzo would be doomed.

The said man scowled and turned around, stomping away. He stopped right next to Shikamaru and looked the boy's mother dead in the eye.

Yoshino stiffened and took a step towards her son. "If you so much as breathe on him, I will personally tear you limb from limb and beat your head in with my ladle."

Danzo's face twisted up into an even sourer look, if possible. He swatted the caterpillar in front of Shikamaru away with his cane and continued on. "You'll regret this," he called.

"Not as much as you will," Yoshino shouted, watching him go. Once he was far enough away she rushed over and snatched her son up, tugging him towards the compound.

The next week he wasn't allowed outside, except for when it was at night. After all, no one would dare mess with a Nara when everything around them was covered in shadows.


	3. Akimichi Choji

Akimichi Choji was a kindred soul. He loved everything around him. He fed birds his potato chips, freed buds from spider webs, and often wandered into the Nara forests just to pet the deer and play with the fawns.

He was such a kind boy. Even the Inuzuka head, Tsume, admitted it, and it was hard to get a compliment from her that doesn't end in a cackle or a feral grin.

But, the thing was, he hated fighting. He hated seeing it, he hated hearing it, he even hating reading about it in school. And, most of all, he hated doing the fighting himself.

Choji knew he was born into a shinobi clan, after all, it'd been established early on in his life. His father had explained his family's role in the system over a bowl of curry one night. They were shinobi, ones who had their own special abilities.

But they couldn't be used to do other things besides fight. They could only be used in battle. It was so stupid, that silly little rule. Choji knew that the shinobi clans could do so much more.

The Yamanaka's could use their telekinetic abilities in the court systems to prove if the accused was guilty or innocent. Inuzuka's could locate stolen items and return them with just the use of their noses. His own clan could even help with construction by carrying things for others.

But, war was a thing. So was conflict. They both existed. And, even if Choji prayed for it, peace was something that couldn't be achieved.

Therefore, he had to fight, not only to protect his fellow clansmen, but also his alliances, his friends, and his village. Even if he despised it, even if he resented it, even if it killed him inside, he had to do it.

So, he tried to fit in, tried to get more comfortable with it. But, whenever he played ninja-tag, he never really enjoyed it.

The game itself wasn't too bad, even if it involved violence.

It was simple and only needed six players to start off, though it could go up. There were few rules besides the basics and, as a student in the Shinobi Academy, he learned a lot.

But… no one wanted to play with him.

After all, he was too fat and too slow; he'd never make the game fun.

He tripped over rocks, broke boxes when he tried to jump off them, and was loud enough for the other kids to hear. His teammates would pair up without the poor boy, leaving Choji all on his own, then blame him for leaving them when they lost.

If he hit someone with the wooden weapons, they'd complain he threw them too hard. Then everyone would gang up on him, throwing their own shuriken and kunai with the excuse of him getting a 'taste of his own medicine.'

And even if he was on the defense side, he was always found first. When he tried to stick with others, they always got found out, and the boy he'd hidden with would yell at him. He wouldn't even be able to get within ten feet of someone without them trying to shoo him away.

Choji wasn't made out to be a fighter, everyone told him that. He knew his dad was disappointed, and his mom wouldn't want anything to do with a kid who would eat everything without needing the calories to use the clan's jutsu.

He hated that he wasn't able to do anything better, but he could keep trying, even if it hurt him to hurt others. He'd get over it eventually, right?

Maybe then he'd make his family proud. Maybe then everyone would stop laughing. Maybe then he'd be comfortable in his own skin.

And, maybe, just maybe, he'd actually have a friend.


	4. Inuzuka Kiba

**Okay, so Kiba has been the hardest to write so far. His character is just so static that it's difficult to find a way to make him, well, change. ~Koi**

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Inuzuka Kiba was an outgoing child. He never listened to his elders, ignored any orders given to him, and made it his job to moon every clan member possible at the age of five. The boy was as rambunctious as possible, and, to make matters worse, there were only two people in the entire world that could calm him down.

One was his mother, obviously. But Kiba's fear of her was extremely rational. In fact, it was the only one of Kiba's behaviors that actually made sense to most people. Inuzuka Tsume was not only ferocious; she was fearsome as well.

She scared off her husband when Kiba was four – not to mention she was proud of the fact that she did – and could easily make a grown man piss his pants with a single comment. She was the head of the Inuzuka clan and easily kept the rowdy clan members – all of them, basically – in check.

And, the most terrifying of all, she was Mitarashi Anko's female role model.

How much more terrifying could one get?

Most of the time, though, Tsume would only yell at Kiba. The woman had no idea how to deal with a son. She'd raised nin-kin, not humans. And, yes, they were very, very different.

So, most of the time, Kiba would go to the one other person that could talk/smack some sense into him: Hana.

Hana used to be fun and crazy and hilarious. She'd sleep with Kiba at night and tell him stories about the Academy and how there used to be this one kid in her class that could throw all their kunai without even looking and still make the bullseye.

She'd wrestle with him in the morning and teach him how to track in the afternoon after she got home from school, then she'd help him prank the Aburame's and some civilians.

But that was all before the Uchiha coup had happened.

With most of Hana's girl-friends-group-thing gone, she was left alone. The class had been over half Uchiha, but afterwards, it'd just seemed empty. There wasn't a big kid boom in Hana's class, so it was a small amount of civilians and a few other kids from more clans, mostly Hyuga's.

Kiba had been alright with growing up without a father. He'd learned what he'd needed to from all the other men in his clan. But, Hana had been more motherly than Tsume was back in his early years.

Now his sister was gone, isolating herself from the world. She trained all day and cried all night, tending to her dogs more than herself.

He found comfort in Akamaru, given to him by Tsume, but the puppy was more of a handful than anything else. Kiba was left to fend for himself.

He had to take care of himself first, then his little 'partner' or whatever it was supposed to be.


	5. Hyuga Hinata

"Again, you useless child, again."

"Keep your eyes on your feet, on your hands, and on your opponent… Yes, you pathetic excuse of chakra, at the same time!"

"Sloppy. You are already dead."

"Once more. Stand. Bend. That is a bow, not a bend! We bow to nobody in this clan! …That is alright, I suppose. Now, attack."

"Your arms are to be strong, they are not supposed to resemble udon."

"Kami, what are you, a deer? Knees are _not_ to be locked _and_ wobbling at the same time. It should not even be possible, but, alas, it is, as are you."

"Dear lord, what kind of child was I given? A pacifist?"

"Do not just sit there. Get up, Hyuga Hinata, get up and fight."

Hinata looked down at her legs, "Otou-sama," she whispered, voice wavering, "I cannot."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed, "Yes, you can, Hinata, you will always get up. Always."

She shook her head, "But I can't -" he shot her a glare, " _Cannot_ this time. I… I cannot move my legs."

"You cannot move them? Can you _feel_ them?"

"Yes, Otou-sama, I can. But they… they ache. They're throbbing and burning and, it feels like my muscles are…," she blinked back tears, "I may be able to feel them, Otou-sama, but it is only slightly. I… I cannot move; I cannot stand."

Hiashi sighed, shook his head, and took a step forwards. His voice was soft. So soft, it reminded her of her mother. It almost crossed the border into caring. "Hinata…"

SMACK!

The pain – the stinging, staggering, squally pain – practically devoured her gasp. It swallowed her pride, her soul, and her will.

Hiashi looked down at her with bland eyes.

"You will get up. You will always be able to move; you will always be able to fight. And, even then, if you cannot move your legs, then you'll sprout wings and fly. I will not say this again: get up. Participate in this battle."

Hinata bit down on her cheek and gave a simple nod. She braced her weight on her hands and stood up on shaky legs. Lunging into the Juken position, she took a deep breath and shot forwards… only to fall flat on her face.

The wood bit into her skin.

She tried to get up. She tried to push herself, she even got back onto her knees, but her butt just fell against the floor. Her legs were slack, useless.

So, so, so useless that she might as well be crippled at this point.

"Hinata," Hiashi said.

"Yes, Otou-sama?" she whimpered.

"Remember this lesson. Burn it into your skin, carve it into your eyes, etch it into your ears. I want you to taste this on your tongue; I want you to smell it in battle."

"Yes," Hinata whispered, "Otou-sama, I will."

"You will always remember this, even if I have to mark your chakra with this moment. You will remember your place in this world, you will remember your place in a fight."

* * *

 _Back when I was younger, I used to think he meant I'd always lose. I used to think he wanted to degrade me. I'd never assumed, I'd never known, that he was trying to save my life._


End file.
